Those Patient Hufflepuffs Are True
by kci47
Summary: Eloise Midgen is shocked when her father comes to take her home and he inadvertently reveals a big secret. Written for the "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Appreciation Challenge" on HPFC.


Eloise Midgen burst into the Hufflepuff common room, loud sobs escaping her mouth just like tendrils of hair were coming free from her plait. She tripped and practically fell into the squashy sofa by the fireplace, burying her head in her hands. Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott looked at each other before moving over to sit with Eloise.

"Eloise? What's wrong?" Hannah wrapped an arm around the distraught girl.

"M'dataykmefrumogwarzzz," Eloise wailed.

"Didn't catch that, Eloise," Hannah prodded gently.

Eloise lifted a tear-stained face to her two best friends. "My dad – is taking me – away from Hogwarts," she managed before a fresh torrent of sobs took her once more.

For a few minutes the girls were quiet: Susan rubbing Eloise's back and murmuring meaningless reassurances, while Hannah conjured a handkerchief. Eventually, Eloise subsided into small whimpers and the occasional hiccup. Susan saw Ernie Macmillan enter the room and look at Eloise with a question on his face – but she jerked her head towards the back of the room and gave him a look that indicated he shouldn't interrupt just now.

"He says it's not safe to be here," Eloise mumbled.

"Well, El, maybe he's right-" Susan began.

"That's not even the worst part!" Eloise's fists clenched on her lap and her face flushed a dull red. "He says – he says I'm a _Gryffindor_!" Her scandalized whisper nevertheless carried across the room, and Susan saw Ernie's guilty expression. She suspected it mirrored her own.

Eloise stood and began to pace back and forth in front of the sofa. Hannah and Susan remained silent, not sure how to respond. They did not want to upset their friend any more than she already was.

"Don't be silly, El, you're Hufflepuff, with us!" Hannah exclaimed, perhaps a bit too brightly.

"That's just it," said Eloise slowly. "I am a Hufflepuff, we all know that. But when Dumbledore brought me to his office to talk to my dad, he didn't seem very surprised when my dad asked if he could go with me to get my things. 'Want to see the common room for old times sake', Dad said. But my dad was a Gryffindor! And then, when we left Dumbledore's office, my dad headed for Gryffindor Tower, even though I was trying to lead him down here." Eloise's brow furrowed in confusion. "He dragged me all the way up to the portrait of the Fat Lady and kept telling me to 'give her the password'. I _told _him we were in the wrong place, but he just got more and more upset. Eventually he was yelling at me to just give the password so we could go in, and people were stopping to watch, and it was horrible-"

Susan and Hannah winced as Eloise let out a loud cry and collapsed onto the sofa again. "I don't know why he was being so mean!" Eloise complained between sniffles. "I just left him there and ran down here," she explained. She looked to Susan and Hannah, who were doing their best to appear shocked.

Ernie caught Susan's eye and nodded at Eloise. His expression very clearly said that it was time to come clean. Sighing, Susan grasped Eloise's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Listen, El...I think your dad just didn't realize what was going on."

"What do you mean?" Eloise asked, a hint of suspicion beginning to creep into her tone.

"Eloise...you're a Gryffindor," Hannah stated carefully.

"No." Eloise shook her head. "I'm a Hufflepuff."

"In all the ways that matter, yeah," Hannah conceded. "But – don't you remember? The Sorting Hat put you in Gryffindor when we were eleven. You're a Gryffindor."

The silence was deafening and so fraught with tension that Susan wanted nothing more than to disappear. But she couldn't leave Eloise in this fragile state. The other girl was staring, mouth agape, at Hannah as though a Blast-Ended Skrewt had suddenly grown out of her forehead.

"But – how is that possible? It can't be true. Look at my robes! They've got the Hufflepuff crest and colors. And I have a bed in the dormitory here! And we have all our classes together! You must be mistaken." Eloise sounded frantic, panicked, and Hannah hated what she now had to explain.

"I can't believe you don't remember," Hannah muttered. "I always figured you just chose to ignore...well, nevermind that now. You _were _Sorted into Gryffindor, El, whether you remember or not. At some point during the first term – it was pretty early on, I think – you started eating meals with us in the Great Hall."

Eloise looked to Susan for confirmation, and Susan nodded sadly. "It's true. We had Double Herbology with the Gryffindors, remember that? Well – one day, you left with us to go to Transfiguration instead of Potions with the Gryffindors, and, well, you just never really...went back." Susan squeezed Eloise's hand again, trying to soften the blow.

"But, my robes," Eloise said weakly.

"I Transfigured them to match the Hufflepuff colors," Hannah explained. "See?" She said _Finite Incantatem _and the yellow and black of Eloise's robes faded to red and gold. Eloise gasped before trying to tear off the offending garment. Susan and Hannah restrained her hands.

"Professor Sprout spoke with Dumbledore and McGonagall," Susan went on. "They fixed your schedule so you'd be in class with us officially."

Eloise looked like she had been Stunned. Her eyes darted back and forth between Hannah and Susan, and she leapt to her feet again. Twirling to face them, she cried, "You're mad! There's no way everyone would have gone to that much trouble to make it seem like-"

"Ah, but everyone did go to that much trouble, Eloise," a deep voice said from the corner. Ernie stepped forward at long last, moving closer to the girls with his hands outstretched, palms up in supplication. "We even talked to some house-elves, and they managed to get a bed set up for you in the dormitories."

"You knew, too?" Eloise asked, embarrassment written all over her features.

Ernie nodded. "Professor Sprout gathered the rest of the House and explained the situation so that no one would make you feel unwelcome. But mostly everyone forgot your true House the same as you did – it's essentially just our year that's even aware of the situation," Ernie said.

They could tell that Eloise was trying to process all this information at once. She looked at each of them before staring up at the House banner hung above the entryway. They remained quiet while Eloise was deep in contemplation. Susan looked nervously at Ernie, but he gave her a reassuring smile. Eloise shook herself and directed her next question at Hannah.

"Why?" she asked softly. "Why would you do that to me?"

"Not _to _you, El," Hannah answered her fervently. "_For _you. You were obviously unhappy with your Sorting, and you fit in just fine with us. Once it was clear that you'd rather be a Hufflepuff, well, we just worked together and made it happen. That's who Hufflepuffs are – we take care of our own."

"No one wanted to hurt your feelings or make you feel unwelcome," Susan added. "You're our best friend, Ellie-bellie! We're glad you choose us." She used their old nickname for Eloise on purpose to help demonstrate that they meant every word. It wasn't because they were cruel, or secretly laughing at her, or too afraid to send her back to Gryffindor – no, they had done those things without hesitation because Eloise had wanted to be a Hufflepuff, and so, she was. It was that simple.

"So, all these years, I've been – in the wrong House?" Eloise's tone was plaintive.

"Never," Ernie said confidently. "You're a Hufflepuff through and through. Do not let anyone tell you differently." He strode forward and enveloped Eloise in a firm hug. "We'd do it again in a heartbeat, you know," he added.

"Wow," Eloise said. She shook her head slowly. "I can hardly believe this. I just don't know what to think!" She sank onto the sofa and gripped the hands that Susan and Hannah immediately held out to her.

"It's a lot to take in," Susan agreed. They sat quietly for a few moments. Their various thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Professor Sprout. Their Head of House made her way over and patted Eloise on the back consolingly.

"How are you, my dear?" Professor Sprout asked.

"Well, I don't quite know how to feel!" Eloise answered her, smiling sheepishly.

"That's quite understandable. You've had a bit of a shock today," Professor Sprout said. "I've spoken to your father, and he's going to wait in Dumbledore's office until you're ready."

"Thank you, Professor," Eloise said gratefully.

"It's no problem, dearie," Professor Sprout assured her. "You take your time. I'll be waiting with him when you're ready." She hugged Eloise quickly before exiting the common room.

"Well, I guess I'd better pack," Eloise said sadly. The others sobered immediately.

"So you're really leaving, then?" Hannah asked, standing. Susan rose from the sofa as well.

"Seems that way." The four of them stood there, staring at each other for a long moment.

"We'll help," Susan offered. Ernie and Hannah nodded.

Half an hour later, Eloise slammed the lid of her trunk. "That's everything," she said. She looked around their room forlornly, memories of their years together crowding her mind.

Susan moved closer and wrapped her arms around Eloise. Hannah joined them, and then Ernie curled his strong arms around the whole group, joking, "Ah, my favorite girls, you're going to bring a tear to my eye!"

They remained standing and hugging and laughing until Eloise's happy expression fell away. "I'd better get going. My dad will be wondering what happened to me." A small gasp escaped her and tears welled in her eyes once again. "You're my best friends, you know that? I'm sorry if I was upset earlier – I was just surprised. I'm really glad that you took me in!" She swiped away the tears that fell and gave them a watery smile.

"Oh, El, you'll always have a place here." Susan handed Eloise her own Hufflepuff scarf. Eloise sniffled as she wrapped it around her neck.

"Write us, Ellie-bellie?" Hannah asked. Eloise nodded. Hannah slipped a yellow and black woven bracelet onto Eloise's wrist, and Hannah and Susan showed her the matching ones on their wrists. There was another round of teary hugs, and then Ernie picked up Eloise's trunk.

"Ready?" he asked gently.

"As I'll ever be," Eloise replied.

As the door to the common room swung shut behind Eloise and Ernie, Susan and Hannah held each other and cried. "She'll be alright, won't she?" Susan sniffed.

"Of course," Hannah said firmly. "She's strong, Eloise is; after all – she's a Hufflepuff."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Written for fan-freak121's "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Appreciation Challenge" on HPFC. I'm a Hufflepuff, in case you couldn't tell! I am not, however, JK Rowling. Furthermore, this piece is un-beta'd. **

**I was initially assigned Susan and Eloise, but my "research" on Harry Potter Wiki revealed that Eloise was a Gryffindor, so I asked for a different student. I got Ernie, but fan-freak121 mentioned that Eloise is listed as a Hufflepuff on Harry Potter Lexicon! Needless to say, there is no definitive answer for which House dear Eloise is actually in, and so this story was born. :) I intended for it to be on the funnier side, but I think it ended up a little serious and sad. Still, I hope it showcases the loyalty and compassion that I think are present in Hufflepuff students! They don't get enough fanfics about themselves. Please enjoy.**


End file.
